I haven't looked at the pricing yet so I had no idea single day tickets to Volcano Bay weren't available at this point in time, but that's intersting, and it will be intersting to see how that plays out. I'm interested to see how the place works out logistically, with the whole park in the structure and ride a shuttle bus to the entrance plan. Seems like a headache to me but this is Universal.

Aquatica will take over for Wet N' Wild with the locals market (which, hilariously, I hear Orlando locals themselves talk badly about) until/unless Fun Spot manages to actually develop a new water park in the area.

DirkFunk wrote:Aquatica will take over for Wet N' Wild with the locals market (which, hilariously, I hear Orlando locals themselves talk badly about)

Aquatica is "ok" and I've had a good time every visit, but I'm not rushing back.

The reality is this - locals here just don't seem to do water parks very often. I know very very few who frequent them and usually it's more of a "once a year MAYBE" kind of thing. I feel like we do a water park once every 2-3 years and for a "local" that seems about right.

Hilltopper39 wrote:I've got a boat load of water park days left from non-expiring tickets back when those things still existed, I should be set for a few years.

I actually have 14 water park days remaining on two non-expiring passes we've been holding onto since 2003. We'll have free Disney water parks for at least the next ten years! lol

In short, basically what I'm trying to say is that I don't think locals play a huge role in the water park attendance figures at all. And if I had to guess, the majority of "Orlando locals" going to any water park are probably going for very cheap if not free due to having friends or friends of friends that work at said resorts.

Hilltopper39 wrote:I've got a boat load of water park days left from non-expiring tickets back when those things still existed, I should be set for a few years.

I actually have 14 water park days remaining on two non-expiring passes we've been holding onto since 2003. We'll have free Disney water parks for at least the next ten years! lol

Funny story last year I found two 3-Day children's tickets at my in-laws house that had to have been from around 1985, paper tickets with detachable daily admission tabs good at either Epcot or Magic Kingdom. One ticket had 2 tabs left the other 1, I took them to guest services and they gave me 3 single day park hoppers in exchange.

robbalvey wrote:In short, basically what I'm trying to say is that I don't think locals play a huge role in the water park attendance figures at all. And if I had to guess, the majority of "Orlando locals" going to any water park are probably going for very cheap if not free due to having friends or friends of friends that work at said resorts.

Yeah the more I think about it the more I agree with you but it is kind of interesting that they open a new attraction at a water park now, 2 months ahead of Volcano Bay's opening, considering that between almost 60 years of operation of BB & TL Disney has added a new attraction to either park once. I'm just curious as to why a family raft slide at Typhoon Lagoon and why now? Maybe some contractor at Disney Springs blew a job and said okay we owe you one...... and Disney said "what if we had a waterslide laying around, how much to have it installed......".

^Typhoon Lagoon and BB both seem to be on the one new attraction every 10-15 years plan and this coincides with that. I really believe that Disney does not see Universal as competition as much as enthusiasts seem to believe. Disney is not 'reactionary' towards anything Universal is doing. They have long, long term plans and seem to stick close to them.

robbalvey wrote:The Disney parks and Volcano Bay are more parks that people do as part of their resort stay. (And when I say 'resort stay' I don't always always mean people who are staying at a hotel on property, but people who have bought into multi-day tickets at a park resort.)

There's the kicker. I enjoy water parks so I'd be in that minority that would go to Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach or even Volcano Bay on a regular basis. However, most tourist-y type people seem to relegate Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach to that awkward "day 4" or "day 5" of their Disney Vacation as an off day after romping around the four major parks once.

I feel like if Disney were really "worried", if you could call it that, about Volcano Bay, we would be seeing new developments in their water parks on the scale of, say, Star Wars Land, Pandora or New Fantasyland. They know that people will always go to their water parks. That's why I think that they can be okay with a small, consistent base of attendance over the course of however many years, with the occasional "nice" new attraction that augments the existing offerings without any super-huge "whizz-bang".

I adore water parks and yet even though I barely do them here in Korea, because people wait 2-3 hours for even normal slides, whenever we look into doing Orlando we find that the maximum length we could probably get is a 2 week vacation. When we look at all the theme park to do, and considering it'd probably be a once in a life time trip, the water parks don't even cross our minds when factoring in all the parks, plus days where we can revisit ones we want re-rides or can't fit it all in and/or leaving empty days to move things in case of weather. I think Disney know what they're doing when they only add to those parks now and again.

These pages are in no way affiliated with nor endorsed by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Cedar Fair, Legoland, Merlin Entertainment, Blackstone, Tussaud's Group, Six Flags, Universal Theme Parks, the Walt Disney Company or any other theme park company.

All onride
photos and videos on this website were taken with the permission of the park by
a professional ride photographer.
For yours and others safety, please do not attempt to take photos or videos at
parks without proper permission.

Disclaimer!
You need a sense of humor to view our site,
if you don't have a sense of humor, or are easily offended, please turn back
now!
Most of the content on this forum is suitable for all ages. HOWEVER! There may be some content that would be considered rated "PG-13." Theme Park Review is NOT recommended for ages under 13 years of age.